Getting started? Protect your personal assets by incorporating your business or forming a Limited Liability Company (LLC). The Company Corporation's fast, online services and friendly staff simplify the often complex process of business formation.

Incorporation is just the beginning. The Company Corporation offers many products and services to help you grow and manage your business. As your needs evolve, we'll stand by you. Let us focus on the details so you can focus on running a profitable business.

The Company Corporation has incorporated more than 750,000 small businesses. We can trace our roots back more than a century. We were the first company to provide Internet-based incorporation services and we continue to invest in the best technology to help our customers.

Registered Agent Service and Solutions

Satisfy your need for a Registered Agent.

What is a Registered Agent?

Corporations and Limited Liability Companies (LLCs) are required, by law, to maintain a registered office in the state where they were formed or conduct business where there is a live person to receive legal documents called "service of process", (e.g. court summons, subpoenas, employee wage garnishments, etc.) during normal business hours. To best mitigate their risk and avoid any inconvenience, most companies hire a reliable third-party Registered Agent, such as The Company Corporation, who will receive and forward service of process on their behalf.

Aside from executing all statutory requirements, our Registered Agent service provides additional benefits to help you manage your business.

Scope: The Company Corporation is qualified to serve as a Registered Agent in all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia.

Experience: Our Registered Agent service is backed by more than a century's worth of Registered Agent know-how.

Privacy: By using The Company Corporation's Registered Agent service, our information will become public on state records and online records instead of yours, to better protect your privacy.

Access to Compliance Watch®, an online compliance management tool.

Alerts whenever your essential compliance filings are due

Secure online storage for your important company documents

A comprehensive to-do list that keeps your business activities on track

A business profile that puts your vital company information in one place

Speed: We offer a variety of Service of Process delivery methods based on your business needs.

Corporate Veil Guarantee®: The Company Corporation has helped entrepreneurs incorporate their businesses since 1899. Our experience allows us to offer an exclusive $50,000 Corporate Veil Guarantee at no additional charge when we form your corporation or LLC. To learn more about this important benefit simply visit Corporate Veil Guarantee.

Service: Unlimited phone support for your business needs.

Education: Monthly educational webinars with various topics designed to help you run and maintain your small business.

Savings: Registered Agent customers receive discounted offers on business compliance services such as business licenses, compliance coaching, employee identification numbers (EIN), amendments, and many more services.

Corporations and LLCs must designate someone to receive official state correspondence and legal notices, called service of process. Most states refer to this delegate as a "Registered Agent." Some states also use the terms "statutory agent" or "resident agent."

In most states, a Registered Agent must:

Remain available during normal business hours to receive legal documents

Maintain a physical address located in the state where the business is registered

List their name and address in public records

Promptly forward state correspondence and legal notices to the business

Many business owners opt to use a third-party Registered Agent service like The Company Corporation to avoid any inconvenience and protect their privacy. For instance, can you guarantee that you will never leave that address during business hours? Do you want a process server or sheriff to deliver your legal documents in front of your customers or neighbors?

Trust The Company Corporation as your Statutory Agent to receive and forward your legal notices discreetly, promptly, and affordably.

"Service of process" might sound like a complicated legal term that applies only to large businesses, when in fact, it affects businesses of all sizes:

"Service" refers to the delivery of legal documents. Types of service might include mail, fax, e-mail, or personal delivery.

"Process" refers to legal documents. Companies normally think of documents related to a lawsuit, like a summons or complaint, as "process." However, process also includes wage garnishments, subpoenas for records, official state correspondence, and other requests common in the course of business.

Together, the words "service of process" simply mean the delivery of legal documents. All states require corporations and LLCs formed in that state to maintain an address in that state for service of process, usually known as the registered address.

Failure to respond to certain correspondence from the state can result in the suspension or termination of your company. Failure to respond to a legal notice can result in a default judgment against your company, which means that a party that has sued your company can receive the relief it was seeking without the court ever hearing your side of the argument.

As the Registered Agent for your LLC or corporation, we will receive and forward legal documents and state notices on your company's behalf. We maintain a nationwide network of offices to receive legal documents during normal business hours. When we receive legal documents on behalf of your business, we will summarize the vital information on a cover sheet and forward the paperwork to you promptly. In addition, when you select The Company Corporation as your company's Registered Agent, you will receive our exclusive $50,000 Corporate Veil Guarantee.

The term 'corporate veil' generally refers to shielding a corporation's shareholders or an LLC's owners from personal liability for the debts or actions of the business.

Choosing to set up a business entity offers owners limited protection from personal liability as a result of lawsuits filed against the company. This is accomplished because a corporation or LLC is considered a separate legal entity from its owners.

Forming an LLC or corporation is an important first step toward protecting personal assets like your home, cars and retirement savings. You've worked too hard to let a lawsuit against your business threaten your personal belongings.

We offer an exclusive $50,000 Corporate Veil Guarantee® at no additional charge when we form your business structure.

Here's how it works:

Form a corporation or LLC by phone or online through The Company Corporation.

On an ongoing basis, you will pay an annual fee for our Registered Agent service. Our annual fee is $235 per year with multiple year discount options.

If your company is already formed with the state, we will waive our service fee to file a change of agent to The Company Corporation. You simply pay state fees and a $235 fee for registered agent service.

‡ By entering your telephone number and clicking "Grab Your Free Guide," you agree to let us follow up with you at this phone number regarding this and other services, or simply call us at 800.818.6082 to speak to someone who can help you.

The $50,000 Corporate Veil Guarantee is not available for North Carolina companies.